


When Lightning Strikes

by Coffeela



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Airbender Romelle, Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Avatar Shiro - Freeform, Bromance, Childhood Friends, Earthbender Hunk (Voltron), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Family Bonding, Firebender Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Metalbender Pidge, Nonbender Lance, Post-Avatar: The Legend of Korra, Slow Burn, Southern Water Tribe Prince Lance, Spirit World, Spiritbending (Avatar), Team Voltron Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 20:10:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17311076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coffeela/pseuds/Coffeela
Summary: Avatar Korra had brought peace to both worlds: spirits and humans started to get along well, Republic City expanded and became an independent state, the centre of economical and cultural development. The other kingdoms struggled to achieve the capital's stability, resulting in misery and crime spreading throughout the world. The final blow came when Galra Spirit Zarkon proclaimed himself Emperor and invaded the Human World, killing Avatar Korra.Thirty years later, Avatar Shiro travels from his natal town in the Earth Kingdom towards Republic City, in the hopes of becoming a good police officer. He has no desire of revealing his true nature. But when he starts to realize the chaotic state the world is truly in, with the help of his adopted brother Keith, a firebender, and Lance, the Southern Water Tribe Prince, he's ready to bring balance back to the world.





	When Lightning Strikes

Lance ran away as fast as he could, ignoring the mud going all over his clothes, his face, his hair. His dark skin was covered in dirt, his chestnut hair all messy, part of his cloth was ripped apart. No one could have guessed he was the prince of the Southern Water Tribe himself. Well, at the moment this was an advantage to him.

“Don’t let him get away!” one of the chasers yelled, slapping harder his horse in order to go faster. Lance was exhausted. It’s not like he couldn’t fight, it was just because there were things way more urgent that needed to be done, rather than wasting his time with some silly guards. He tried to turn left suddenly – hoping they didn’t notice.

“To the left!” ordered the lieutenant. Lance huffed. “Oh, come on!” he groaned in frustration. 

_How long are they going to make me run? This is the last time I do the bait, I swear!_

As soon as Lance tripped and fell, face on the floor, a willowy yet muscular figure appeared before him, but he didn’t get to observe the mysterious silhouette as the red cloth the latter was wearing covered Lance’s view. However, the prince managed to glance at his hair – those he recognized, and he frowned.

“Keith! Took you long enough” he protested. 

Said Keith sighed. “Not my fault if you ran too fast, I couldn’t follow you properly” 

“Well, you should keep the pace then, otherwise–” Lance couldn’t finish his snarky remark as Keith began kicking in front of the guards, who had in the meantime ran up to them, generating powerful fire shots that knocked out the guards one by one.

Lance pouted. He got up, his back almost touching the other’s. “Like I’d let you have all the fun” he commented. As he threw his daggers at the enemies, Keith grinned and charged, flames engulfing his punches and kicks. Lance covered his back, his swift movements making up for the lack of bending. Keith took advantage of his companion’s precision by putting all of his energy into attacks, minding not his defense. Which Lance obviously noticed. He huffed, but made sure nonetheless Keith was left unharmed. 

However, the guards overcame them in quantity. The more of them Lance and Keith defeated, the more reinforces arrived. Panting, the firebender looked at the prince: he was also exhausted. In that moment, a lightning bolt stroke from the sky, defeating all guards at once. The two teens looked in the same direction.

“Shiro!” they both exclaimed at once, not after having glared at each other because of this synchronicity. “Don’t copy me” mumbled Lance running toward Shiro. Keith sighed and followed shortly thereafter.

“I leave you two alone for ten minutes, and you cause trouble already!” Shiro reprimanded them like a father would, and Keith was about to protest. The older male anticipated him.

“I know you wanted to help, but if we have to take action is something we gotta decide together, okay?” he concluded in a soft tone, looking at them fondly. He really cherished the two boys, as the two of them reminded him of himself when he was their age. In some ways, he was as reckless as Keith, whereas Lance was as bossy as…

“Okay, Shiro” Keith interrupted his flow of thoughts, “we’ll follow you no matter what”. Shiro laughed.

“Now, now, it’s not like I’m a dictator or something, am I? Besides, I’m just the Avatar” he humbly stated in a quieter voice. Lance tilted his head. 

“ _Just_ the Avatar? You’re the balance to this– mfhdbs!” Lance’s protest was silenced by Keith’s hand as he saw his mentor’s look darking a bit. He knew that Shiro could handle such responsibilities, it was just that those weighted on him a lot sometimes.

But Shiro simply smiled. “Are you ready guys? Wait, before that. Keith, explain what in the world where you doing before I arrived. Putting the Prince in such danger!”

Keith’s hand left Lance’s mouth as he looked away. “Well, it’s…”

“It was my idea”

Shiro looked at Lance, who had spoken, startled. “You?” he asked. Lance wasn’t usually one to jump into action recklessly, that was why Shiro was bewildered.

Lance nodded. “I… I came up with a plan, I thought that if I was to be the bait, Keith would have more time to prepare his attacks” he explained, sincerely sorry for having made Shiro worry. 

“That’s… that’s not a bad idea, but why would you do that?” Shiro asked, looking at how the prince was covered in dirt. Keith sighed. 

“He saw those guards beating up a kid. So he came up with that plan to let him flee” he explained, looking a bit proudly at Lance. He’d never admit he would have done the same. Well, maybe instead that planning something, he would have instantly reduced those guards to ashes.

Shiro shook his head. “They caught you a few times I see” he noted, but smiled “come on, let’s get you all cleaned up, hero”. He said that not in a mocking way, but almost as if he was proud himself. Lance smiled. “Aye!”

When Lance had finished changing, no one outside the dressing room of the shop could deny his dazzling beauty. The short, light blue tunic defined his smooth curves, the sleeves fell until his elbow, from where white bands were wrapped tight around his dark skin until they reached the wrist. Unlike the usual attire of the Water Tribe, Lance’s pants were quite close-fitting, underlining his long and elegant legs.

Nonchalantly, the prince grinned at his two companions. “Well, how do I look?” he asked, letting out a soft laugh, to which Keith slightly blushed. 

“You look gorgeous, my prince” replied Shiro with a kind smile, “I’m sure you could start looking around for your princess right now”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Please don’t say something like that to him, he’ll take your word for it”

Lance grunted, “What, mullet? Isn’t high time for you to finally get a decent haircut? You’re just envious of my handsome looks”. Keith crossed his arms.

“What? Are you in need of validation or something?”

“Wha-! How dare you speak to a prince like that!”

“Guys! Stop!” 

Shiro put a hand over his face in shame, because everyone was looking at them. “Enough of your bickering. Let’s go back to the inn. I’ll tell you what I found out”

Still glaring at each other, Lance and Keith followed Shiro. The only thing they had in common was their admiration for him. Lance shuddered.

_We’re only sticking around because Shiro needs the both of us. As soon as all of this is over, I’ll never see him again_.

The inn was made of wood, and looked quite cozy. Their room wasn’t very big, but at least it wasn’t cold that way. Temperatures in the Earth Kingdom had lowered drastically since the spirits invaded the Human World. 

It was a long story. Thanks to Avatar Korra, the travelling between the two worlds became much easier. Scholars began studying the spirit ways and communication became possible thanks to linguists. Moreover, Republic City was the cultural centre of the whole world, where nonbenders, benders and spirits lived in harmony. 

Nobody really knows why, maybe it was either greed or ambition, but Galra Spirit Zarkon proclaimed himself the Emperor of the Spirit World, and killed the avatar. Fortunately, Korra wasn’t in the avatar state, but the order of the world was threatened. Galra soldiers killed everyone who stood in their way, but made great use of the people who decided to side with them.

Lance’s family was one of them. The royal family of the Southern Water Tribe was very large, and they all agreed that safety came before anything – even honor. Lance couldn’t stand this. He thought there had to be a way. But things escalated way too quickly for him to handle.

“Lance? Are you okay?” Shiro asked, concerned. Lance had a habit of daydreaming, but this concerned Shiro nevertheless. The prince shook his head, and sat on his bed. 

“I’m fine. What did you find out?”

“They’re keeping twenty people as hostages. Two of them are your age, and there’s also a child” Shiro explained.

Keith stood up. “We have to do something, as soon as possible”

“You’re right, but now is not possible” Shiro calmly stated, “if we barge in now, Galras will kill every single one of them. I have a plan”

“Oh! What is it?”

“Lance, you look weirdly excited about this”

“You two, listen to me” Shiro sighed, and lowered his voice, “Lance, you’re going to let yourself get caught”

“Oh, I knew it!” Lance pouted, and Keith grinned.

“Keith, you too”

“What? Why me? I can go with you, Shiro” he protested. It was Lance’s turn to grin. Shiro paid no attention to their reactions.

“That’s because they keep benders and non-benders in different prisons. As soon as you hear the alarm, you’ll tell them to follow the path I’ll create, I’m thinking about a tunnel, or something like that. Keep them safe until then”

Keith raised a brow. “What about you? The guards are many”

“I’ll handle them. You don’t have to worry”

“So reckless, as always”

Lance stood up. “I think that’s a good plan! Shiro’s the Avatar, after all! We’ll make sure no one gets hurt”

Shiro smiled. “Thank you, Lance”

Keith huffed and covered himself with the blankets. “We have to rest now, if we need to fight tonight”

“You’re right, Keith” Shiro replied, getting into his bed. Lance imitated him, but he couldn’t sleep at all.

 

He had just started to close his eyes when Shiro told them it was time to strike.


End file.
